Blog Archives

One in every home, Hilary Stace

The Raupo Dictionary of Modern Maori  P M Ryan Raupo, $60.00, ISBN 9780143567899 Every household and office in Aotearoa New Zealand will have times when they need an easy-to-use Maori dictionary. As more te reo words and phrases drift into…
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Posted in Language, Māori, Non-fiction, Review

Acts of God and government, Brian Easton

The Christchurch Fiasco: The Insurance Aftershock and its Implications for New Zealand and Beyond Sarah Miles Dunmore Publishing, $38.00, ISBN 9781927212035 Given New Zealand’s reputation as The Shaky Isles, together with its accompanying history of deluges, hurricanes, landslips, tsunamis and…
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Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

Nothing sacred, Christine Johnston

Risk  C K Stead MacLehose Press, $30.00, ISBN 9780857052230 C K Stead is a towering figure in New Zealand writing – a distinguished novelist, literary critic, poet, essayist and emeritus professor of English of the University of Auckland. He has…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

A rowdy lot, Julia Millen

Convicts: New Zealand’s Hidden Criminal Past Matthew Wright Penguin, $40.00, ISBN 9780143567646 We New Zealanders have always been complacent, even smug, about our nation’s origins. Unlike our nearest, much bigger, neighbour, New Zealand was never a penal colony, having been…
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Posted in History, Non-fiction, Politics & Law, Review

No proof of innocence, W K Hastings

Trial by Ambush: The Prosecutions of David Bain  Joe Karam HarperCollins, $45.00, ISBN 9781869508340 I am reasonably new to the criminal justice system, having been appointed a judge in 2010, and seem to be one of the few people in…
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Posted in History, Memoir, Non-fiction, Review

Issue 101 | Autumn 2013

    Volume 23 | Number 1 | Issue 101 | Autumn 2013 Letters John McCrystal: Charlotte Grimshaw, Soon Chris Else: Jane Stafford and Mark Williams (eds), The Auckland University Press Anthology of New Zealand Literature Murray Bramwell: Nicholas Reid,…
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Posted in Contents

No getting away from the man, Linda Burgess

Civilisation: Twenty Places on the Edge of the World  Steve Braunias Awa Press, $36.00, ISBN 9781877551352 Steve Braunias is one of our very best writers. How does he do it, wonders the reviewer, as within a sentence Braunias moves from…
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Posted in Essays, Non-fiction, Review

Moving the world along, Mark Houlahan

These Rough Notes Bill Manhire, Anne Noble, Norman Meehan, Hannah Griffin Victoria University Press, $40.00, ISBN 9780864738318 Selected Poems Bill Manhire Victoria University Press, $35.00, ISBN 9780864737625 “In the future,” Bill Manhire predicts, while introducing his sweeping 2005 anthology of…
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Posted in Literature, Photography, Poetry, Review

More pork and potatoes, anyone? John O’Leary

Poenamo Revisited John Logan Campbell (essay and notes by R C J Stone) Godwit, $60.00, ISBN 9781869797980 Most New Zealanders – even those living south of the Bombay Hills – have heard of John Logan Campbell, the Father of Auckland,…
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Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review

Magnificent obsession, Spiro Zavos

Graham Henry: Final Word Bob Howitt HarperCollins, $50.00, ISBN 9781869509736 Here is an heroic assertion. Graham Henry is the greatest coach in the history of rugby. His rivals for this title include Danie Craven, Carwyn James, Fred Allen and, possibly,…
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Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review, Sport
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